


Solos and Solace

by radlovejoy



Series: Middle Borough Marching Band [2]
Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Alternate Universe - Marching Band, Color Guard, Insecurity, Jenna is a good friend, Love Confessions, M/M, Will Jeremy get the solo ? :0, boyf riends — Freeform, jeremy is worried, solos, the boyfs are in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-29
Updated: 2017-06-29
Packaged: 2018-11-20 20:03:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11342289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/radlovejoy/pseuds/radlovejoy
Summary: It's the last day of color guard camp. Jeremy Heere is insecure and tired.





	Solos and Solace

"Alright, guys, gather around here!" Katy called as she motioned to her general area. This signaled the end of their break. 

Jeremy and his fellow guard members stood from their respective spots in the hallway and walked over. 

Jenna strode by Jeremy, pausing only to playfully bump into him. Jenna glanced over her shoulder with a grin at the shocked noise that came from Jeremy. Katy saw this all and jokingly pointed at Jenna in mock anger. 

When everyone sat again, Katy proceeded, "Okay, you've all been phenomenal to work with this week during camp, but there are still some things we need to finalize, like, we need to learn the last song today. You guys have most of your show down, but..." She paused for dramatic effect, continuing only when a couple people leaned forward in suspense, "I need to tell you this year's soloists!" 

Most of the newbies slumped, knowing that they wouldn't get picked. Jeremy knew he probably wouldn't get a solo this year, either. Jenna was the captain, and although he was a co-captain, there were still two seniors and another junior who were available for it as well. 

Katy clapped her hands together and grinned at the newbies who were discouraged, "It's okay, none of us got a solo freshman year! Just work hard this season and prove yourself; the rest will come into place!"

Katy shifted in place and brought out a piece of paper. She cleared her throat and read off of it, "So, we're going to have two soloists this year. The first is in the opening song. This is before the part where you all go off fighting each other. It's a showcasing of the powers of good. This will go to... Jenna!"

They all clapped and Jeremy smiled at Jenna, moving to nudge her back in congratulations. Jenna grinned at him. 

There was a pause and Katy continued talking, "The second and final solo occurs in the last song, which we haven't learned yet. It will be one of the 'evil' people. It's like a final goodbye after being defeated by the 'good' and it will take over most of the song. This soloist will be..." she paused for dramatic effect again. People started to hit their hands on the floor in a makeshift drumroll. 

Jeremy felt a pang in his chest. He knew that one of the seniors would get it. He looked over at Jenna, who was trying to elbow him. He shrugged and glanced away, looking back up to Katy, who took a breath to talk again, "... someone who's really awesome and dedicated," she stalled. She heard someone huff and she rolled her eyes, "Fine! Our final soloist will be Jeremy!"

Jeremy's eyes widened in shock as people clapped, "Me? Um, what? Why? I don't think I've done enough to deserve this!"

Katy grinned, "You are probably the most hardworking person I've ever seen. You've improved so much since last season. You've done what you needed to do and more to get this." 

Katy patted his arm and continued on to the rest of the group, "And just because these two are the main soloists, it doesn't mean we don't have chances for small groups and things like that! Now go to lunch!"

When they were dismissed, Jenna immediately turned to Jeremy and hugged him, excitedly babbling about how cool this was and how hard he worked for this. Jeremy nodded along to all of Jenna's exclamations. 

"I'm so happy! For me and you! This is fucking amazing!" Jenna shouted. 

Jeremy chuckled and patted Jenna's back, "Me too." Jeremy was actually freaking out. He had a solo. A. Solo. That he did alone. That he could mess up. He was going to mess it up. Oh god, he hadn't even learned it yet, but he knew he would fail. Oh no, oh no, oh no-

"Jeremy?" Jenna asked, concern painting her voice, "You alright?"

Jeremy was momentarily saved from his panic as he blinked at Jenna, "I'm all good," he croaked out, then cleared his throat. "Just a bit nervous, you know? Like, what if I mess up? Spectacularly?"

Jenna smiled softly at him, rubbing his arm soothingly, "You'll do great, and if you do mess up, we can always change something that's not working. You have to give it time to get right, though. I believe in you."

Jeremy hesitantly smiled and stepped back, "Thank you," he said honestly. He was still unsure but he felt a bit better. "I'm gonna go, uh, see Michael, talk to you after lunch." Jeremy started to walk away, then paused. He turned, then said, "You'll do awesome as well!" Jeremy turned back around and grabbed his bag, walking to the band room with a smile on his face. 

He strode through the doors and searched for Michael. He found him quickly. He was leaning against the wall, messing around with his phone. Jeremy walked forward and poked his boyfriend's arm, who jumped at first then grinned. 

Michael leaned into Jeremy's space, planting a kiss on his cheek, "Hey, babe, ready to go?"

Jeremy froze and flushed, "Uh, babe?" He asked, fumbling with his bag. 

"I'm trying it out! What, do you not like it?" Michael pouted. Jeremy felt the urge to kiss the frown off his face.

He finally obeyed the urge and smirked, "It's fine, darling. Let's go eat," Jeremy grabbed Michael's hand and pulled him out of the band room into the hallway as Michael blushed and sputtered. Michael squeezed his hand and led them to his car. 

They settled into the car and headed to Subway. They decided on their destination the day before between eating and sneaking a few kisses during their lunch break. 

Jeremy fidgeted, then spoke, "So, uh, guess what?"

Michael smiled and cocked a brow, "What?"

"Jenna got a solo."

Michael's smiled brightened, "That's cool! Good for her, she works really hard..." he trailed off and focused back on the road as he made a turn. 

Jeremy took a deep breath, then said, "I, uh, got one, too, and apparently it's a really big one."

Michael's eyes widened and he grinned. He tapped his hands against the wheel excitedly as he spoke, "Oh my god! I knew you were amazing, now you finally get recognized for this!" He waited until they reached a stoplight and kissed him quickly. 

Jeremy blushed and ran a hand through his hair. He frowned, "I'm excited, I think, but I'm also really nervous. Like, what if I forget the choreo and everyone laughs at me? Or if I drop my flag and, um, I don't know? What if people hate me?" 

Michael was glad that they reached the Subway at that moment. He parked and turned completely in his seat to face Jeremy. He cupped his face and tapped his fingers against his cheek, "These are all 'what if's, babe. You won't forget the choreography, and if you do, I have a lot of faith in your ability to improvise. If you drop your flag, it'll be fine because everyone in that guard has dropped a flag during a performance. Everyone makes mistakes, and I know that if you do mess up, you'll learn from it." He kissed Jeremy and sat back, his hand still cupping his face. 

Jeremy nodded and looked down at his hands in his lap, "I just worry, you know? And I know that I haven't learned it yet, but I'm still scared."

Michael's thumb grazed Jeremy's cheekbone, "You'll be great and I'll be here to help you the entire time. I may not know how to wave a flag, but I can offer moral support."

Jeremy met his eyes and smiled, kissing him softly, "Ready to get food?"

Michael grinned, "Hell yeah!" They left the car and laced their hands together as they entered the building. They ordered and once they got their food, they found a booth near the window to sit at. 

They ate and talked about anything that crossed their minds. Michael was telling Jeremy about a new documentary he watched and Jeremy was avidly listening as he took in Michael's excited gestures and expressions. Once Michael finished, Jeremy squeezed his hand and smiled. Michael squeezed it back and grinned. 

"I love you." The words suddenly left Jeremy's mouth, and although it was unexpected, it felt right. 

Michael gaped at him as his face slowly went red, "You, um, you love me?" He asked. 

Jeremy moved and grabbed Michael's other hand, "I love you so much. I know we have-that we've only been dating for a little bit, but we've been friends forever and that love didn't restart. It, uh, somehow grew even more." Jeremy was blushing as well when he looked up to Michael. 

Michael leaned forward and kissed his softly, "I love you, too." He sat back with a warm and happy expression on his face. 

Jeremy grinned and took a sip of his soda. They finished their meal and left. Michael crowded Jeremy against his car and kissed him lovingly. Jeremy wrapped his arms around the other's waist and smiled into the kiss. They broke apart, and Jeremy leaned in to peck Michael's lips before quickly turning around and getting back in the car. 

Michael grinned and rapped his knuckles against the roof of the car as got into the driver's side. He started up the car and they went back to the school. They had ten minutes until practice started again and they spent that time leaning against each other on the floor, just enjoying each others presence. 

Soon, the hallway filled with guard and percussion members coming back from lunch. Michael stood, holding out a hand to help Jeremy up and kissed him softly, "I gotta get back, good luck with your solo." He smiled at him and headed to the band room with the other percussionists. 

Jeremy smiled back and ran a hand through his hair. He had completely forgotten about the solo, but after the multiple reassurances, he felt more confident about it. He got his flag from the guard room and stood, waiting for Katy to arrive. In the meantime, he texted the 'SQUAD' chat that he got a solo. He was surprised to see that Jenna didn't tell them yet, but he assumed that she wanted him to tell. Whatever the reason was, he appreciated it.

He was met with a flurry of replies, all of which were excited. Jeremy smiled as he read the texts, then pocketed his phone when Katy entered the band hallway. 

"Okay, we're gonna learn the part of the last song that we all do, then the soloists will come with me and learn their parts while the others review, alright?" Katy smiled at Jeremy and Jenna as she spoke. All the members nodded and she turned and they walked to the gym.

Jeremy had to sit out when they learned the ending. The other guard members had rifles and he would have a flag. The solo was staged as if he was fighting the others and he would be defeated in the end. 

He was slightly disappointed that he wouldn't do rifle again, but they already did some air blade work in the percussion feature, so he wouldn't miss out completely. They quickly finished and Katy called him and Jenna over. 

"So, some of your choreography is the same. I'll show you guys each of your solos. From there, I'll teach Jeremy his, and then I'll teach Jenna's while he's practicing, alright?" Katy asked. She received nods in reply and she smiled. She stepped back to her speaker and played the first song. 

As she started doing the flag work, Jeremy was stunned. Jenna's solo was beautiful and bright, filled with tosses and dramatic hits. Katy seemed to convey the choreography in a way that it felt like she was trying to rally her troops to fight against evil. 

Katy held a pose with the flag in a slight right angle. Jeremy glanced over at Jenna and saw that she was grinning with her phone in hand, recording. He looked back to the front and saw that Katy had walked back to her own phone and scrolled through to find the last song. 

When she found it she went back to her original spot and smiled at Jeremy. She shifted into Jenna's ending pose and waited for a moment. The music started and she moved. 

Her flag work this time was full of mourning and melancholy, as opposed to Jenna's bold and brash solo. Katy portrayed the death of evil in the solo. It grew softer and weaker as it died. There were some moments where the noise sprung up again. They were approaching the end of the song when the sound swelled once again and Katy quickly threw a super flick and turned, catching it nimbly. 

After that, the solo seemed to end quickly with long and sweeping movements of the flag. The ending pose was Katy standing straight up, her hands held out at her sides dramatically. Jeremy was shook. He looked over to Jenna and pointed excitedly at Katy. Jenna giggled and moved her phone from Katy and directed it at him. 

Katy stood up, then asked, "So what do you think?"

Jeremy grinned, "It's awesome? Are you really sure I can do that? Like, oh my god, that was so cool!"

Jenna spoke up as well, "It was amazing! I'm so excited to learn it!"

Katy smiled, "Let's get to it, then!"

Jeremy was dying. He decided this as he rolled his flag and shoved it into his flag bag. He was tired and worried. He was still slightly nervous at the thought of turning under the flick outside. He knew he had to practice more, but there was still the fact that wind existed and throwing a toss into the wind sucked. 

Jeremy finished collecting his things and made his way to the band hallway. He waited in the hall for Michael to come out, fiddling with his phone. He was alerted of Michael's presence by him clearing his throat. Jeremy jumped at the sudden sound but grinned. 

"Hey, sugar!" Michael greeted as they started walking out of the school to the car. 

"Really?" Jeremy asked, flushing as he tried to act annoyed. 

"Really, honey bun," Michael affirmed, pecking the other's cheek. 

Jeremy snorted and opened the car door, sitting down heavily after maneuvering his flag bag in. Michael started the car and pulled out as after they buckled, turning on the radio. 

Jeremy looked at his boyfriend as he sang to the music. Michael was grinning, tapping his fingers to the beat. 

They arrived at Michael's house and dragged their bags inside. They brought their stuff to his basement and collapsed onto the bed. It was quiet. 

Jeremy felt his eyelids lower in exhaustion. He unconsciously cuddled closer to Michael, to the other's amusement. Jeremy looked up blearily as Michael laughed, then he shifted to sprawl over him, hogging the space. 

Michael grinned, then kissed Jeremy's temple softly, "Love you, sugar cube."

Jeremy blindly grabbed a pillow and threw it at Michael, "Love you, asshole." Jeremy turned his face away from Michael to hide his tired grin. 

It was the end of color guard camp, and although Jeremy lost a large amount of energy, he gained a boyfriend and a solo. He was excited for the rest of the season. 

Jeremy moved his head and kissed Michael on the cheek as the other ran a hand through his hair. Yeah, he definitely was ready for what the rest of the season would bring.

**Author's Note:**

> Jeremy loves his boyfriend ! anyway, here's this shit :) im tired as fuck,, my tumblr is radlovejoy


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